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By Ross Moyo
Drone Solutions International says Harare-Marondera 34-minute flight is just corridor one — Bulawayo, Vic Falls, Masvingo next.
The drone that took off from Health Point Lanark in Harare and landed in Marondera in 34 minutes yesterday is not a first for its makers. It is a first for Zimbabwe.
The platform has already flown thousands of medical deliveries over four years in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Mozambique — without a single crash.
That is the context President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Drone Solutions International, Jeremiah Musabayana, gave Technomag minutes after the Marondera demonstration flight.
“I think what we have here demonstrates the capacity that is now in Zimbabwe. It shows that we are not too far from technologies being utilised in the developed world,” Musabayana said.
Drone Solutions Zimbabwe was licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe on September 7, 2026, for drone delivery — a special approval on top of its existing licences. But the journey started long before.
“Already we have done many other delivery demos. From Harare to Murewa Hospital. From Harare to Zimpost in Murewa. And recently on the 10th of October we were in Plumtree on World Post Day where we did delivery, reverse logistics to and fro,” Musabayana said.
Five countries, one platform
Musabayana is not just CEO for Zimbabwe. He is President and Group CEO for Drone Solutions International, which operates in five countries — Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and DRC.
The group is now the African dealership for Kite Aero — the company that acquired Swoop Aero, whose aircraft delivered medicines across Africa for four years.
“The platform that we are using, the Kite platform, I want to believe it is the best platform one can get access to. It is a platform that lands at the remote site which means you can have retained parcels,” he said.
In DRC, Malawi and Mozambique, Musabayana said, that same platform did thousands of deliveries.
“There was no single drone crash. The same drone platform delivered thousands of medicines in Malawi over three and a half years. Not a single loss of aircraft or crash. The same was flown in Eswatini, Mozambique.”
Zimbabwe’s first BVLOS operator — 4 years ago
A key point Musabayana stressed is that BVLOS — Beyond Visual Line of Sight — is not new for his company.
“Drone Solutions Zimbabwe is the first drone company in Zimbabwe to get a licence for BVLOS, which was four to five years ago,” he said. “We have got all the possible ratings, from RPAS multirotor to RPAS aeroplane, BVLOS and recently we have got RMT for maintenance.”
He explained the aviation definition: VLOS is 500 metres — you must see the drone and fly manually. Beyond that, you fly on instruments. That requires BVLOS approval, which Drone Solutions has held for four years. Drone delivery required an additional special approval, which came on September 7.
“With the licence that we have now, we are already setting up drone corridors to enable us to fly to all major destinations,” he said.
Three air bridge corridors are now on the drawing board — Harare to Bulawayo, Harare to Victoria Falls, and Harare to Masvingo.
Health Point’s Harare-Marondera route, demonstrated yesterday, is the first private corridor. Health Point wants to use it to move essential medical supplies between its Marondera facility, Upper East and Lanark, and later to a clinic coming up in Victoria Falls.
Musabayana said other users can ride on the same corridor once established.
What if weather turns or GPS drops?
On safety, Musabayana said the aircraft is built on two layers.
First, full redundancy. “Every aspect of the drone has got redundancy. Motors, batteries, propellers, almost any electronic element.”
Second, triple communication — LTE, Wi-Fi and satellite. Most flights in Zimbabwe use satellite because GSM coverage is patchy.
“Even if there is to be failure in GPS connectivity, you are guaranteed that the aircraft will still reach its destination. If there is any flag raised, the pilot in command has options — forced landing on site or landing at nearest contingency emergency landing.”
He said thousands of flights in three countries prove the design.
4KG courier — but health first
Musabayana described Drone Solutions as a drone courier company, not just a health logistics company.
“Any client can come through with their product as long as it can be carried by our drone. Currently payload of up to 4KGs, within volume limitations of our cargo area, we can carry that.”
But he admitted health has more value: antivenom, blood, lab samples, vaccines, emergency meds.
“Drones are coming in not to replace other modes of transport, but to occupy spaces where traditional modes have limitations,” he said. “Remote villages where road infrastructure may not be in best shape. After heavy rains, some bridges are swept away, road damaged. Drones are not limited by that.”
And then speed.
“You just noticed we flew to Marondera, it took about 30 minutes from takeoff. Imagine a vehicle driving — affected by traffic, many other challenges. The issue of speed is very important, especially when speaking to life. We talk about the golden hour. One is bitten by a snake, you want antivenom delivered within shortest possible time.”
At the end of the interview, as Technomag was wrapping, Musabayana interrupted:
“The drone did not only fly to Marondera. It has just taken off a few minutes ago. It’s on its way back to Health Point lab. So in about five to ten minutes, the drone will be landing at the lab with real samples.”
The Marondera-Marondera-Harare reverse logistics loop — the core of medical drone delivery — was live, while we were still interviewing.
For Musabayana, that is the point: “Interesting times we are living in. We never dreamt sometime this would be happening. But this is definitely a change in the right direction.”
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